Tag Archives: phillip keene

This season on Major Crimes has seen Buzz and Rusty team up to reopen the unsolved murder of Buzz’s father. Through both storylines in episodes, as well as Rusty’s web-excusive series Identity, the two have explored the circumstances surrounding the cold case, and seek to finally find some resolution for Buzz and his family. So it seemed only natural for us to sit down with both Graham Patrick Martin and Phillip Keene together, to discuss Buzz and Rusty’s new partnership in crime-solving, and what we can expect from both of their characters moving forward this season.

MCTV: This year has been a great year for both of you. Phillip, you’re having a great year with Buzz’s storyline, and Graham, Identity continues to be wonderful with Rusty as well as his storylines continuing. You’re about halfway through filming this season now – how has it been going for both of you?

Phillip Keene: We’re finishing up episode 9 and things have been going great. I mean, Graham has always been excellent at memorizing dialogue – and quite frankly I haven’t had that much dialogue to memorize in such a long time that it was a bit of a challenge for me. But the more that I do it with these episodes of Identity, the easier it becomes. And I just love the fact that you get to see more of my character’s background, so it gives me a lot to do, and I love working with Graham. He and I did a four-page scene a couple weeks ago and we were able to get it filmed in under an hour – it was great! The crew were happy, we loved it, it was just nice playing off of somebody who works as well as he does.

Graham Patrick Martin: Thank you Philip. I am a such a huge fan of the show, and I’ve always been a huge fan of the Buzz character, and so it’s been fun playing with that sort of brotherly relationship that Buzz and Rusty have always had. I’ve always been really anxious to dig deeper and to learn more about Buzz and what’s motivated him to be where he is. So that’s what this whole Identity Buzz and Rusty crossover has done for me. It’s really been an awesome platform to dive into the character of Buzz, who I feel like is one of the characters who we don’t know as much about as the others.

PK: And it’s really cool because in the beginning I was sort of Rusty’s mentor and in terms of bringing him into the fold, and now the roles are slightly reversed in that Rusty already has this Identity and journalism thing established and he’s bringing me out of my shell and exposing more of who I am. Continue reading →

Comparing his career as a flight attendant with Pan-American Airways (Pan Am) to his current role as Buzz Watson on TNT’s Major Crimes and The Closer, actor Phillip P. Keene points out that these jobs aren’t as different as they might first appear. “That is really an aspect of it,” he says. Both “have crazy hours, we go to different places all the time- not as exotic as when I was flying, but we’re all there for each other, and we have each other’s back, so if someone’s tired a little bit, or cranky maybe if that happens at the end of a sixteen hour day, you’re telling them ‘it’s fine, don’t worry about it’ and elbow each other, and it’s a great sense of family again, so it’s like I never left in a sense.”

Keene revisited his airline roots last month in Palm Springs, CA, where his collection of Pam Am memorabilia was showcased in “Welcome Aboard: The Pan Am Experience” as part of the city’s popular Modernism Week. The exhibit, featuring an impressive archive of materials from the iconic airline, has been a labor of love for Keene, who flew with the company from 1987 until its closure in 1991. “When we shut down, I had my uniform and my forms and my luggage and I was still in love with the company, and wanted to continue thinking about it.” He started by collecting advertisements, and over time branched out: “When more pieces came up, and I had a little bit more ready cash I bought lighters and ashtrays and dishes and it just kept growing. I got my degree in history in my thirties, and this is my history project.”